Dupont Biere de Miel (Biologique)

Brewed by Brasserie Dupont
Style: Saison
Tourpes-Leuze, Belgium

750, corked and baled. Opens with a shot for sure, solid geyser erupts as soon as the cork leaves the mouth. Rich, fizzy, dense, eggy platinum blonde head with plenty of lacing on top of a bubbly, bright gold body. Classic look. I’m a bit of a sucker for that funky, wet-hay Dupont yeast, and this one shows plenty of it. Fizzy medium body. Funk with honey sweet, produces almost a bit of a sour tang but not quite--still, it’s a bit tangy. Earthy, herbal finish from the yeast spiciness. Solid effort.

Bottle. Pours a hazy golden body with a large white head. Spicy yeast tones, pepper notes, some lighter earth tones, and a hint of sweet honey. Some fruit esters pear and apple notes. Earth and some bread y hoppy earth tones to finish. A nice ale.

In short: A minty floral semi-wild Saison with a lot (and I mean A LOT) of honey. Good if you like honey.
How: Bottle 750ml, consumed relatively fresh a few months after purchase
The look: Cloudy blonde body topped by a medium beige head
In long: Nose is very much honey and not very wild for a wild for a Dupont. I could really smell linden tea that my girlfriend drinks (linden flowers are used to make linden honey). Body is pleasantly full and with a lively carbonation, exactly what I expect from a world class brewery. Dominant flavour is honey (linden honey to be more precise) and mint is second. Signature Dupont yeast still manages to pierce through but not enough for my liking. I have a girlfriend who is a honey freak, drinks honey from the jar and knows just about all the honey varieties, and she thought this was excellent. I believe this beer is very well made and as far as a beer with honey upfront, this might be the best one I’ve ever had. But I don’t care for so much honey in beer. Here I am complaining about too much honey in beer called Dupont Honey Beer. And I also think there are not enough car chases in the movie When A Man Loves A Woman.

Cloudy appearance with an orange glow. Nice head. Honey is not cloying or overstated. Has the flanders flatness about it. Not too sweet.

Notes from a Dupont tasting at Holiday Wine Cellar. Pours a cloudy dark yellow (almost orange). Aroma is sweet and Kool-Aid like with a hint of honey. Flavor is a typical saison with more muted hops and a bit more sweet. The honey is only slightly detectable. Light mouthfeel and pleasantly drinkable.

750ml bottle from Nectar in Brisbane with an expiry date of 8/2010. Appears cloudy amber with a small but persistent white head that provides an excellent ’Belgian lace’. Lots going on aroma-wise with honey malts, fennel, ginger, lemons, oranges, alcohol and a slight antiseptic-type smell. Palate is medium bodied and bittersweet with a pleasant smooth mouthfeel and a nice lingering spicy dry hop bitterness to the finish. There is a slight hint of soapiness at the very end which marks it down in my estimation. The ABV is dangerously well hidden. It’s good but not one of the better ones from Brasserie Dupont.

Sampled at a Mead, Cider and Beer Tasting at Binny’s Beverage Depot, Glen Ellyn, IL. Poured to a wine/sampler glass a hazy, orangy gold hue with white, bubbly foam and light spots of lacing. The nose was light yeast with floral and fruit notes. The flavor was soft malt and mainly honey sweetness. Finished subtly dry.

750 ml bottle - mild gusher before pouring bright orange with fuzzy white head; white pepper, lemon, lots of zest, honey; nose is kind of odd at first; almost like toothpaste or fluoride; soft texture and flavors of honey, fruit; grainy with touch of yeasty spice and pepper; overall this is a very sweet tasting saison and a little more harsh than I normally like